A Rescue Gone Awry
by Meta-Blade
Summary: Mario goes to save the princess... again. But when the rescue goes wrong for the first time in history, his overlooked brother Luigi must step in to become the hero in his place.
1. Chapter 1

* * * * CHAPTER 1 * * * *

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><p>'You're not saying the princess has been kidnapped again?' sighed Mario that morning as he sat down in a chair in his house, watching his younger brother dishing up something for breakfast.<p>

'I already told you,' Luigi also sighed, exasperated that Peach had gotten herself taken and even more exasperated with Mario's attitude towards the whole thing. 'Come on, she's your friend right? Why wouldn't you want to help her out?'

'It's not that. It's just... this is the third time she's gotten captured _this month. _I kinda want a peaceful Christmas, without having to fight off Bowser and his hordes of troops every few days.' His stomach rumbled suddenly, reminding him that he had other problems to deal with besides saving Peach. 'Hey, can you hurry up there?'

Luigi only rolled his eyes and turned away from the kitchen stove, handing his brother a large plate of fried eggs, sausages, tomatoes and a few other, odd things which made him wrinkle his nose up in disgust. Leaving Mario inhaling his meal at lightning speed, he went to the cupboard to dig out a box of cornflakes for himself.

'It won't take you long,' he said, trying to insert a comforting note into his voice as he addressed his brother. 'Leave now and you can be back in time for lunch.'

'Wha' if somethin' happ'ns, though?' Mario asked through an indecently huge mouthful of food. Luigi winced.

'It'll be fine!' he responded. 'Bowser's an idiot, you know that as well as I do. Just run into his castle, grab Peach and go. You might not even have to fend off his minions, if you're quick.' He glanced over his shoulder, one hand stretched towards the fridge, to judge whether his words were having any effect.

'Mmmph.' Mario returned his full attention to his breakfast, demonstrating his inability to concentrate on talking and eating at the same time. Apparently, Luigi's little rallying speech had put his worries to rest.

'And _besides,' _the green-capped plumber added, as he took a seat at the other side of the table to finish his cornflakes, 'Peach will probably bake you another nice cake after you rescue her. She always does.' He spotted the light that came into Mario's eyes and knew that was all the initiative he needed. With a sigh, he completed his breakfast and set to work tidying up the kitchens and throwing the dirty plates and bowls into the sink to be washed.

While he busied himself, Mario stuffed a couple of 1-UP shrooms into his pockets for reassurance and headed for the exit. With one hand on the doorknob, he paused briefly and looked back. 'What are you gonna do while I'm out?' he asked.

Luigi shrugged, accustomed to hearing this question every time Mario went off on some new adventure to save Princess Peach. 'Oh, hang around. Go talk to the Toads. You know, the usual.'

'Right. See you later then!' Mario left the cabin in a cheery mood, apparently not noticing the slight despondency in his brother's tone. As soon as the door crashed shut behind him, Luigi let out a long, slow exhale and flopped onto the armchair beside the hearth. He momentarily curled his fingers around the television remote, then thought better of it and tossed it across the room instead.

'Why does he always get all the fun?' he mumbled to himself.

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><p>After wallowing in self-pity for half an hour or so, Luigi finally dragged himself up and left the cabin. Even if he hadn't been invited to join Mario on his adventure, he could still attempt to make himself useful by going into town and helping out. Maybe he could hang up some Christmas decorations or something.<p>

Toad Town was, as usual, a fairly quiet place, filled with peace-loving people who generally wanted nothing to do with Bowser's minions. There was always the occasional uproar – a Goomba wandering through here, a robbery there, and that one time when the Toad Town Express had slipped off its rails and crashed spectacularly in the station – but such occurrences were few and far between. Today was no exception and the only sounds to be heard were the birdsong and generic murmur of chatting voices.

Luigi adjusted his cap as he strode into town, drawing several quick glances from the people who noticed him. As soon as they realised he wasn't Mario, their gazes slid away without further interest – he felt a sickening sense wash over him as he observed their reactions to his arrival. He was nothing to them. The only person they wanted to see was their hero, the one who always saved the princess and brought them peace.

Once he got into the main centre of town, he saw that the preparations for Christmas were already well underway. Tinsel and holly branches were draped along the fences, wreaths were nailed to the doors of buildings, and a massive tree stood in the middle of the area, catching the attention of everyone walking past. Luigi, as always more observant than the people around him, immediately noticed the lack of a star on top of the tree.

It was the princess' duty to place that star. If Mario couldn't return with her safely today... he let the thought trail off. Mario _would _rescue her. He'd certainly never failed before, though that didn't mean he wasn't in danger. Luigi still shuddered a bit when he remembered a particular time his brother had come back with Peach, having saved her from Bowser and his army once again. Both injured, they'd been forced to stay in the hospital for a week under the watchful eye of the most skilled medics Toadsworth could find. Even with the aid of countless mushrooms, there had been some doubts Mario would come out of the experience alive.

Luigi pushed the memory away. There was no point dwelling on it; either Mario would return unharmed or he wouldn't. But he never believed his brother would fail to rescue Peach...

Still lost in thought, he wandered into a café (it had only opened last month) and sank down into a chair beside the window. There were a few Toads in here and a single Koopa, but other than that he was alone. When he waitress came to take his order, she had to address him three times before he heard.

'Sorry,' he stammered, blushing slightly when he realised how long he'd been staring blankly into space. 'Um... just a cup of tea, thank you.' He'd already had breakfast and didn't even come in here with the intention of eating.

The waitress nodded and left, and Luigi went back to his previous task of gazing through the café window. But when she returned with his tea a few minutes later, her face showed a flicker of concern.

'Hey, are you OK? You looked a bit...' she hesitated, 'spaced out!'

He let out a low chuckle at that. 'Grazie,' he said quietly, taking the cup from her and staring thoughtfully into the swirling brown liquid. 'Maybe I was, at that.'

'Why?' the waitress' tone was gentle but insistent. H e looked at her properly for the first time and saw a young Toad with a pink mushroom cap, red waistcoat and a kind expression. His mouth gaped in recognition.

'Toadette! Why are you working as a waitress?'

She grinned cheerily. 'Nobody else wanted the job so I thought I'd be nice and help out for a while,' she replied, then quickly changed the subject. 'But anyway, what are_ you _looking so miserable about? I haven't seen you like this before.'

'I'm not!' His hasty response didn't seem to convince her, so he merely sighed and tried his best to elaborate. 'Mario went off to rescue the princess again, so I ended up left at home with nothing to do.'

Toadette slowly slid into the chair opposite him, apparently forgetting she was still at work. Luigi could almost hear the cogs turning as she asked, '...And you're angry because he didn't invite you to go with him. Is that right?'

'No!' She looked sceptical, so he sighed again and explained. 'I just wish everyone would remember me. It feels like no-one in this town even notices me, especially when my brother's around. Am I even worth anything to Toad Town? Or to the princess?' He stared forlornly into his tea and took a gulp of it when he stopped speaking.

Toadette's eyes widened in almost comical dismay. 'But we _do _notice you, Luigi! OK, you might not be a big hero like Mario... but we still care about you and you've helped Peach out _loads _of times!'

'Name one.'

'Um...'

Luigi finished his tea in a state of eerie silence. Then he carefully put the cup aside and stood up. 'I think I'm gonna help with the decorations or something,' he said a little unsteadily. 'I've... got nothing better to do.'

'Luigi, wait! Hold on!' Toadette leapt to her feet and stretched out a hand pleadingly for him, but the green-capped plumber was already out of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

* * * * CHAPTER 2 * * * *

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><p>'Woah...' For a long moment, all Luigi could do was stand in the doorway and gape, unable to believe what he was seeing.<p>

The peace and quiet of Toad Town had vanished like an extinguished candle flame, to be replaced by the kind of frenzied chaos only panicking citizens could make. Everywhere he looked, people were running around screaming. Near the star-patterned gates leading to Peach's Castle, he glimpsed elderly Toadsworth moving as swiftly as he could through the crowds, trying to regain control.

'Woah,' he repeated. He might have never moved, except he was distracted by a certain Toad girl following him out of the café. He tore his eyes away from the commotion and glanced at her face instead. Her black eyes were wide with shock and she looked almost ready to bolt but, to his relief, she stood her ground.

_'Woah,' _she mimicked in a tone of awe. Then: 'What d'you think happened here, Luigi?! Everyone's in a total panic!'

He shook his head, almost speechless. 'I don't know...'

Suddenly, a familiar small shape emerged from the crowd, looking tired and harried. 'Master Luigi! And dear Toadette!' he panted in a faintly accented voice. 'What in the blazes is going on?'

Luigi pulled off his cap to scratch his head nervously. 'I was actually going to ask you the same question,' he muttered, but Toadsworth, busy shooing aside a pair of curious young children, didn't seem to hear. When he turned back to face them, he appeared even more vexed than before.

'I fear something had worried the citizens tremendously,' he said. 'I will speak with these people and attempt to get some answers from them. In the meantime, Master Luigi, I suggest you fetch your brother in case something truly awful has happened.'

'Mario's not here!' he protested. 'He went out this morning to save Peach, remember?'

'And he hasn't returned yet?!' Toadsworth was wringing his hands anxiously over the head of his cane. 'Oh dear, oh dear, what are we going to do... I suppose we'll simply have to wait until Master Mario returns...'

Luigi tried to bite back the little flare of irritation that erupted when the old man spoke about his brother. Why couldn't they just ask _him _for help? He'd gladly protect this town if the need arose, and he wasn't weak or stupid... But of course, whenever danger appeared the entire kingdom turned to Mario for aid. Mario, and not him.

Toadsworth was still rambling, unaware that Luigi had tuned him out.

Just then, Toadette tugged on the plumber's sleeve to catch his attention. When he bent closer to her, she hissed, 'I think I know what this is all about. I heard someone talking. Over here!' She suddenly started dragging him forwards, showing surprising physical strength despite being half his height.

'Where are we – oh!'

They were outside Merlon the fortuneteller's house, a very odd building with a spinning roof and strange music creeping from somewhere inside. The Toads seemed to give the place a wide berth as they ran by. Near the entrance, the fortuneteller himself was glancing around as though searching for someone in the crowds, looking a little anxious. His expression immediately brightened when he saw Toadette pulling Luigi over to his house.

'Ah, Luigi! You came at a perfect time!' He ushered them closer, but didn't invite them inside. 'A most peculiar vision came to me just moments before this commotion broke out... I believe I know the cause of it.'

'...So what is it?' Toadette prompted impatiently when he didn't continue.

Merlon only spared her a brief glance before returning his attention to Luigi. 'It concerns your brother,' he said. 'As you know, Mario travelled to Bowser's dark lands to find the princess... but something, _something_ has happened to him. The vision did not tell me exactly what, but I am sure of this: both the princess and her rescuer are now in grave danger.'

Luigi felt the blood drain from his face. Mario? In danger? That was almost unheard of... Beyond his control, the memory from earlier came floating back to him, the memory of the one time his brother had been injured while protecting Peach. He recalled the long days he'd spent alone in the Toad hospital waiting for Mario to awaken, and the fear he'd felt. Now it all seemed to be happening again.

Merlon was watching him keenly, perhaps waiting for him to faint from shock, but after a minute he cleared his throat and continued. 'Mario now needs saving himself, and there is nobody here who can do it. Except, possibly... _you.'_

Luigi began to wonder if he was actually dreaming; everything around him had developed a feeling of unreality. 'Y-you want _me... _to rescue Peach and Mario?!'

In some distant part of his mind he felt bizarrely satisfied. It was nice to finally be needed, he thought. Then he snapped his attention back to Merlon as the old fortuneteller spoke, his tone solemn and deadly serious.

'I cannot tell whether you'll succeed,' he said, 'but it must be done. We all need Mario. And this... this is your chance to prove to the whole kingdom that you can be a great hero too. Will you attempt it?' His eyes were knifelike, glowing brightly from underneath his shadow-filled hood.

Luigi stared at Merlon for a long moment, then glanced down at Toadette, who was standing silently beside him with a determined expression, waiting for him to respond. He looked at the crowds being restrained by Toadsworth, panicking because they had lost their most beloved hero. He wondered if he had the ability to do this, and whether he'd come out alive if he did. Then he decided it didn't matter anyway. Mario was his brother, whom he cared about, and this was the only chance he'd ever have to show everyone that he wasn't useless.

He nodded grimly. 'I'll do my best,' he said, and saw an approving gleam come into Merlon's eyes.

'You've chosen well,' said the fortuneteller gravely, extending a hand to pat Luigi on the shoulder. 'I wish you good luck. Oh, and one more thing!'

Luigi, who had been just starting to turn away, glanced back impatiently.

'I advise you to bring a companion along,' Merlon told him. 'It is not safe to enter danger alone.'

'But Mario often goes alone...' the plumber protested. Was this Merlon's way of saying he was too weak to fend for himself? But the look in the fortuneteller's gaze only showed concern.

'Your brother...' There was an lengthy pause. 'Is not the brightest,' he finished carefully. 'He does not always judge danger as well as he should. If you truly wish to succeed, you will be cautious and bring a partner to aid you.'

Luigi found himself turning towards Toadette for some reason. She probably wouldn't be much help to him in Bowser's castle; she wasn't a fighter at all. But something about her determined expression gave him pause for thought.

'Toadette,' he asked tentatively, 'will you...'

'Of course!' she interrupted, eyes blazing. 'I'll do whatever I can to help! I wanna see Mario and the princess saved as much as you do, so let's hurry and get going.' Hands on hips, she strode in the direction of the town gates, obviously expecting him to follow.

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><p><em>Meanwhile, in Bowser's Castle...<em>

'P-Princess!'

Mario gasped out the word as a raging fireball dashed past them, nearly flattening them against the wall. They were inside a massive, high-ceilinged room adorned with stone carvings of the egotistical Koopa King himself. At one end was a steaming lava pit, and at the other end was Bowser standing right in the doorway. They had no escape route; they were blocked off and even Mario couldn't see a way to get out of this mess.

'Princess!' he cried again. 'I'll distract him. You hurry and get –'

'No!' she shouted back, her voice shrill with fear but equally determined. 'I'm not leaving you to face him alone this time, Mario!' She was pressed up against the stone wall beside him and refusing to move.

Then Bowser let out a gruff chuckle and stepped forwards a couple of paces, fire blistering on the ground at his feet. He was huge, bigger than they'd ever seen him, looming high over Mario and Peach's heads. His orange eyes were scorching with hatred and, they noticed, a slight joy and finally having his arch-rival (and the princess) at his mercy. But mostly hatred.

'Mario!' he boomed. 'My great plan has succeeded! You are helpless before me and this time, you can do nothing to save yourself and _Peach!' _He glared at them and raised a clawed fist as if intending to swipe them out of existence.

Then the sound of a broomstick racing through the air caught their attention, and they all simultaneously looked at the doorway, Bowser growling with annoyance at being interrupted in his perfect moment.

'What is it, Kamek?!' he bellowed furiously. 'Can't you see I'm busy destroying Mario here?'

The small magikoopa flinched and darted backwards a little, but didn't leave the room entirely.

'M-my Lord,' he reported, only stammering slightly. 'I have news! One of your troops let slip that you'd defeated Mario, a-and now the whole of Toad Town knows... they're in an uproar!'

Bowser snarled. 'So what! Are you gonna tell me every time one of them blows their nose?! I don't care what Toad Town is up to!' He turned away and raised his fist towards Mario, but was once again stopped by Kamek's voice.

'My Lord, it's worse than that! I flew out myself just a minute ago and overheard the fortuneteller guy talking to Luigi. Apparently, Luigi is coming here to try and rescue his brother and Peach... n-not that he'll succeed, of course!' the magikoopa hastened to add, spotting the murderous gleam in Bowser's eyes. But then it abruptly changed into amusement.

'HA! Luigi, coming here? HIM?! Oh, this is gonna be_ awesome!_ Kamek, assign someone to watch the door here while I go and wait for our new guest.' Bowser grinned cruelly. 'I want to see how long he lasts against the tricks and traps of my castle!' Still roaring with laughter, he stomped out of the room with Kamek following at a distance. The door slammed shut and they heard armoured boots, indicating that some soldiers were taking up guard duty just outside. Then there was no sound but the bubbling of the lava pit.

Now left alone, Mario and Peach gazed at each other in a mixture of shock, admiration, and horror.

_'Luigi,' _the red-capped plumber muttered to himself, looking stricken.

The princess took his hand in her own and said, 'He'll be destroyed in this castle! Even you barely managed to get through it, Mario!'

'I know.' His voice was low and grim.

'What are we going to do?'

He turned and stared fixedly at the door, as though half-expecting his brother to come bursting inside at any moment. 'There's nothing we_ can_ do, Peach...' he replied hopelessly.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated. :)

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><p>* * * * CHAPTER 3 * * * *<p>

The duo left Toad Town almost immediately after their conversation with the fortuneteller Merlon. I say almost, because Luigi insisted on stopping at the item shop and stocking up on essentials before they headed out.

The interior of the shop was warm and cosy, with a fire going in the corner and a ceiling-height Christmas tree dominating the room. There was a stunning array of items on sale, mostly mushrooms and fire flowers, and Luigi took his time examining each and every piece meticulously while Toadette jumped up and down behind him.

'Come _on!' _she whispered, sounding close to tears after they'd been standing in the shop ten minutes. 'Don't you realise your brother could be being hurt by Bowser right now?'

'Of course I do!' Luigi shot back, hand outstretched towards a pink Life Shroom. 'But without this stuff, we won't get as far as the front door of his Castle!'

'Yeah, but you're being paranoid...' When he didn't respond, Toadette sat down on the floorboards with a sigh and refused to move until her companion finished what he was doing. As he paid for the items, she gazed through a window and gasped when she saw who was outside.

'H-hey, Luigi!' she cried, tugging on the tall plumber's sleeve until she got his attention. 'Aren't those your cousins?'

Luigi unwillingly followed her eyes.

'Argh! You're right!' he yelped. 'That's Wario and Waluigi. No doubt they're here to make trouble again.' Then he paused, a hand to his chin in a thoughtful posture. 'Actually, why are they hanging around outside the item shop? Are they _waiting _for us?'

'I guess they must be,' said Toadette with a shrug. She didn't particularly care what the so-called 'Evil Brothers' were doing, so long as they weren't plotting anything bad.

However, Luigi's curiosity was not to be deterred, and once he'd finished paying for his items he grabbed the shopping bag and ran outside, Toadette giving reluctant chase.

'We shouldn't be here,' observed Waluigi as he and his brother stood waiting by the door of the item shop. He glanced around somewhat nervously, expecting someone like Toadsworth to see them and come rushing over. 'And you haven't even told me what you're planning yet.' Wario grunted and cuffed him around the head.

'Idiot! Think about it! If we go with these two and help rescue the princess, we'll become famous! Think of the reward money! We'll never have to work a day again!'

Opting not to point out that Wario never did any work besides stealing, Waluigi rubbed his head and replied, 'Look, they'll never agree to this. For all they know, we could be helping Bowser.'

'Leave it up to me, little bro. I'll make 'em believe we're telling the truth.' Wario crossed his arms arrogantly.

At that moment, the little bell above the shop door tinkled as two customers walked out, one clutching a paper bag clearly stuffed full of items. The short Toad girl hung back a little, but Luigi surged forwards and didn't stop moving until he was practically nose-to-nose with Wario.

'What were you thinking, coming here?' he hissed quietly, not wanting the entire town to hear what he expected would become a fight. 'If Toadsworth spots you you'll be in huge trouble. He's had enough of your thieving.'

Wario growled and shoved his cousin backwards; Luigi, being much smaller, nearly toppled over entirely. 'Moron, we're not here to steal anything! We wanna go to Bowser's Castle and help you save the princess!'

There was a long, tense pause.

'...Are you serious?' asked Luigi, staring wide-eyed at his cousin.

'Of course we're serious!'

'Why do _you _want to help Peach?'

'Well, I dunno about Waluigi, but I'm in it for the rewards,' Wario replied, grinning. 'Think of all that money! And treasure and gold and jewels!' His gaze misted over for a few seconds and Waluigi heaved a deep sigh of exasperation.

'Of course,' muttered Luigi, who felt like banging his head against the shop doors. How had he not guessed it already? 'You're here for the money, why else.' He turned to look down at his small companion, who hadn't spoken a word since he first confronted his unpleasant cousins. 'What do_ you_ think we should do?'

Toadette scuffed her shoe along the ground. 'Well, I don't agree with their motivations,' she said, giving the Evil Brothers a hard stare, 'but we _do _need all the help we can get, if we're serious about rescuing Mario and the princess... I say we invite them along.' She didn't sound very happy though, Luigi noticed.

'All right then.' The green-capped plumber glared at his cousins, especially Wario. 'You two can come, but I'll be keeping an eye on both of you.'

'Whatever,' grunted Wario, coming down abruptly from his money-induced cloud nine. He stalked off in the general direction of the town gates, leaving his brother to exchange awkward glances with the their unwilling allies. Both were staring at him with stony expressions.

'Look,' said Waluigi after a moment or two, raising both hands in a frantic peace gesture. 'I don't care about the reward, I'm just following Wario's lead here, so quit thinking I'm planning something!'

'You didn't _need _to go with him, though,' Toadette pointed out. 'I still think you have something up your sleeve.'

'She's right,' said Luigi, glancing at his friend in grateful admiration. 'Why are you doing this if you don't care about the rewards?'

Waluigi looked even more uncomfortable at that, and started gazing around the area as though searching for a clock. 'Woah, look at the time! We'd better, uh, get going.' He hurried off in pursuit of his brother.

Now Luigi and Toadette were alone again. The plumber cleared his throat. 'D-don't worry, I'll watch them,' he muttered nervously.

'I hope so,' said Toadette, still staring after the Evil Brothers with deep mistrust written on her face. But she folded her arms and followed her companion to the town gates without further protest.

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><p>In the bowels of Bowser's Castle, Mario and Peach were still locked in their room. It wasn't a cell, exactly, and there was plenty of space to walk about, but they were trapped nevertheless. And with nothing to do besides stare at the bubbling, frothing lava pit, it was inevitable that they'd eventually turn to conversation, and that the conversation would eventually turn to Luigi.<p>

'I don't understand it,' Mario was saying quietly to himself, but still loud enough for the princess to hear. 'Why would he try to find us? Why not find someone else, someone more... more capable?'

'Because there _isn't _anybody else,' Peach answered, a worried note to her voice. Mario was touched to see how deeply she cared for his brother, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.

'He'll be destroyed, Peach,' he said hopelessly. 'Burned up in the lava pits or... defeated by Bowser's minions... I don't want to lose my brother...' He took his cap off and held onto it like a comfort blanket. Peach would have giggled if the situation hadn't been deadly serious.

'Maybe he'll find a way,' she tried to reassure him. 'Luigi's stronger than people think, you know.'

But Mario was shaking his head forlornly. 'Bowser's expecting him to come here... he won't have a chance.'

'Mario,' said the princess, a little more sternly than before, 'you need to have more confidence in your brother. Remember that time Luigi saved you from King Boo in the haunted mansion? He really proved himself that day – or night – didn't he?'

The plumber smiled, though it looked strained from her point of view. 'How could I forget? Everyone was talking about that rescue for at least a week. He was so happy to be the centre of attention.' Peach smiled as well. 'I still worry for him, though... he's never fought Bowser before, not like this.'

The princess gave a delicate sigh and rested a hand on his shoulder in support. 'Whatever happens, I'm certain he'll be fine.'

'I hope so.' Mario resumed staring at the door, silently wondering if there was any way he could defeat the guards and escape.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Second update in one day, so be sure to read the last chapter too if you missed it. And again, thank you for the reviews!

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><p>* * * * CHAPTER 4 * * * *<p>

Beyond the walls of Toad Town the kingdom stretched on for miles in every direction, a sprawling expanse of countryside, forests, rivers, and the occasional mountain. Sometimes the landscape actually changed; a hill that didn't have eyes before would suddenly seem to have them, or a tree would shift along, or an entire lake would abruptly disappear. People native to the kingdom had long ago learned to ignore these oddities.

Normally the countryside was a peaceful place to walk through, but for Luigi and his three unlikely companions, it was nothing short of a nightmare. Waluigi couldn't seem to stop poking fun at his rival whenever the opportunity arose, and Wario's constant daydreaming about treasure was starting to grate on the others.

Luigi had a map of the area which he'd pulled out of somewhere, but knowing where he was supposed to go only made things worse. When the bickering between the two Evil Brothers and Toadette reached a crescendo, he halted dead in his tracks and waved the map frantically. 'Time out, guys! Look at this.'

They all shoved each other aside in an effort to get the best spot. When everyone was finally assembled around him, Luigi indicated a single point on the map with a slightly trembling finger. 'It says... the fastest way to get to Bowser's Castle is by travelling through Piranha Woods.'

Toadette covered her mouth in shock. 'We can't go there,' she said immediately. 'It's dangerous. We'd get eaten by piranha plants, and _then_ who would help Mario and the princess?'

They all paused to consider her argument, their expressions tense and nervous.

Then Wario spoke up: 'Look, Bowser's Castle is gonna be far more dangerous than some stupid forest, isn't it?! I say we keep going.' He clenched a huge fist and scowled as though daring them to disagree.

Toadette scratched her head indecisively and Waluigi said, 'I hate to say it, but I think he's right... for once.'

Wario rounded on him, but Luigi quickly broke up the fight by getting between them and raising both shaky hands. 'L-look guys, let's just keep walking, OK? If we really want to save the others, then we _have _to go through Piranha Woods.'

Toadette hesitated, then nodded and said, 'You're right.' There was a general, reluctant murmur of assent from Waluigi while his brother just folded his arms and looked smug.

With that problem out of the way, the four of them continued walking, though more quietly than before.

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><p>'Look.' Luigi stopped, pointing somewhere ahead of them.<p>

They were grouped together on a hillside (one of the individuals which didn't yet have eyes), staring at a dark clump of trees and bushes less than half a mile away. The thin, twisting trunks and snakelike vines, visible even at that distance, seemed to have unnerved the travellers into pausing.

Toadette put her hands on her hips and turned towards the Evil Brothers. 'What do you two know about piranha plants?' she demanded a little bossily. Luigi silently admired her courage in standing up against them, especially considering Wario could have punched her into next week without much effort.

In response to her question Wario grumpily muttered, 'I dunno,' but Waluigi immediately raised his head and seemed to take an interest in the conversation.

'They're not as aggressive as people think,' he said in a snide, contemptuous voice, as though mocking their lack of knowledge. 'They won't attack unless you step on them or poke them with a stick or whatever. So as long as you don't do anything _too_ stupid, you should be fine. I know how hard that'll be for you, though...'

Ignoring his cousin's jibe at his intelligence, Luigi glanced at the forest again and said, 'So we can get through without being in any danger?'

Waluigi shrugged his thin shoulders. 'They're unpredictable. You can't be sure what they'll decide to do.'

'Well, that's reassuring,' growled Wario and the two brothers glared mutinously at each other.

Luigi hastily spoke up before any more arguments could erupt. 'C'mon everyone, let's just hurry and go!' Although he hadn't mentioned it to any of his companions, he'd been thinking up horrible scenarios involving Mario and Peach being locked up by Bowser, maybe hurt, maybe even... he trailed off the thought. There was no point worrying about something that hadn't happened yet.

He just hoped they got there in time.

Wario grunted, interrupting the brief silence that had fallen between them. 'I'm gonna go in first,' he stated. 'You weaklings can walk behind me if you're so _scared.' _He sneered the last word and stomped off in the direction of the forest.

Luigi cried out and gave chase. 'W-wait up!' He wouldn't have cared much if something happened to Wario, but he didn't want the group split apart. For now, at least, they all needed each other. Even the Evil Brothers must have known that, else they'd have gone ahead alone a long time ago.

When he, Toadette and Waluigi caught up, Wario had already ventured into the edge of the woods. As everyone else cautiously crept forth, they saw long vines hanging down like ropes from the tree-branches overhead, but no sign of any piranha plants... yet.

None of them spoke as they advanced deeper into the forest. The trees grew so dense that they blocked out the sun's rays, and everything was cold and dark, giving the atmosphere a forbidding feeling. Things crunched underneath Luigi's shoes as he took a few steps forward and he shuddered, having no desire to find out what they were.

It was a good few minutes before a voice broke the eerie silence. It was Toadette.

'Um... I think we have a problem.'

Luigi whipped around to face her, eyes widened with terror. 'Wh-what is it?' he stammered.

The girl pointed wordlessly upwards and everyone's heads swivelled around to follow her finger. Luigi gasped in shock and Wario muttered something indistinct in Italian.

It was a giant piranha plant, curled up in the bough of a tree with its thorn-studded vines twisted tightly around the branches. Its head, or rather body, was bright crimson and its teeth were so long they protruded from its jaws. It appeared to be fast asleep, but Luigi wasn't taking any chances walking underneath the creature.

He turned to the others for support and saw Wario glaring at his tall brother. 'Well, what do we do?!' he growled. 'You're the piranha plant genius here, so tell us how to kill that ugly thing!'

Waluigi gaped for a moment. 'You're gonna kill it?'

'Why not? It'll eat us if we don't!'

Toadette spoke up again, and although her voice sounded soft and frightened, she was still clearly determined. 'Let's just creep beneath it, OK?' she suggested. 'It won't wake up if we're quiet.'

'It doesn't even have _ears,' _Wario said, but no-one was paying him any attention anymore; they were all watching the giant monster curled up in the treetops. As Luigi stared fixedly at it, he saw a spiky vine move slightly to hang over the edge of the branch, and swallowed loudly.

'OK,' he said quietly, and surprised himself with how calm his voice sounded. 'If we're really going to do this, then let's get it over with.'

'The loudest of us should go first,' said Waluigi, throwing a nasty smirk in his older brother's direction. Wario scowled back, then started walking underneath the piranha's tree with slightly-quieter-than-usual stomping footsteps. Unknown to him, the others were all holding their breath as they watched.

It took about five minutes, but Wario finally reached the other side of the tree, a safe distance from the sleeping creature. He punched a fist in the air and whooped gleefully before signalling for the others to follow.

'All right, my turn,' said Waluigi, impatiently elbowing his cousin out of the way and starting forwards.

Once again nothing happened. Luigi tensed when his cousin trod on something and made a loud snapping noise, but the piranha plant didn't even stir. He was beginning to suspect that it was in hibernation and wouldn't hear them even if they threw a party right underneath its tree. As soon as his cousin was safely on the other side, he began to edge forwards with Toadette close on his heels, reluctant to be left behind.

Everything went fine until he was about halfway across the gap. But of course, if anything bad happened, it just had to happen to _him._

He was inching his way over a large patch of dead leaves that crackled with every step he took. Every now and again he'd glance up at the piranha, which still hadn't moved. Its lack of reaction boosted his confidence and he started to move more quickly, until all of a sudden –

'WEEGEE! HURRY UP, WILL YOU?!' Waluigi said in a loud whisper. His brother was angrily signalling for him to be quiet, but he didn't seem to have noticed. 'WE'RE GONNA BE HERE ALL DAY!'

The piranha's head shifted.

'Will you _shut it?!' _Wario whispered back, shoving his brother until he nearly fell over. Luigi, who'd been standing frozen with a horrified expression, slowly looked up.

A pair of massive jaws were hanging directly above him, dripping with saliva as the piranha plant gradually eased itself out of its long sleep.

In that second, he decided that he may as well take the risk and run for his life. 'Toadette, over here!' he screamed, not even trying to keep his voice down as he dashed across the dead leaves and raced towards his waiting cousins.

With a speed that seemed to defy nature, the piranha plant stretched out its thorny neck and lunged at him. Its teeth clicked together an inch from the back of his head as he stumbled over a protruding root and fell painfully onto the forest floor. Toadette yelled a warning and ran past him. Luigi picked himself up as fast as he could, but he could already hear the monster's jaws hurtling towards him for a second attempt.

Suddenly, he heard an angry shout as Wario surged forwards and whacked the piranha's head with a fist. It fell back, hissing in frustration as it tried to get its teeth into him instead. Luigi found himself being yanked to his feet by one arm, and took the opportunity to stumble out of the reach of the piranha's jaws, to safety.

What followed after that was an awe-inspiring display of power. Luigi and Toadette stood well back and watched as Wario easily beat the monster, seeming to use only a fraction of his tremendous strength. When the finishing blow struck the creature's huge, crimson head, it hissed once and slowly slithered back up its tree to recover. Wario turned towards the others, slightly out of breath but completely unharmed.

Then he transferred his gaze to Waluigi, who was skulking a little further back from everyone else. 'WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!' he bellowed suddenly, making them all jump.

'What are you talking about?' Waluigi replied. Luigi caught the faintly puzzled edge to his tone that nobody else seemed to notice.

'You tried to get him killed!'

'That was an accident!'

'IT WASN'T –'

Although he was extremely surprised to see Wario, someone who'd hated him ever since they were children, standing up for him, Luigi decided to intervene before the noise attracted another piranha plant. 'Can we talk once we're out of this place?' he pleaded.

The Evil Brothers both scowled at the interruption but stopped arguing. As they walked through the woods in single file, the silence that came between them was far from companionable, and none of them would look at each other.


	5. Chapter 5

* * * * CHAPTER 5 * * * *

As soon as the quartet got out of Piranha Woods, the tense atmosphere exploded into complete chaos. Wario rounded on his taller brother and stabbed a fat finger at him accusingly, while Luigi and Toadette stood uncomfortably in the background and wondered if they should intervene.

'You!' he bellowed. 'You woke up the plant on purpose, you idiot! You were tryin' to get Luigi killed!'

'I did not!' Waluigi was quick to defend himself, glaring and his short sibling and folding his arms arrogantly. 'I told you that was an ACCIDENT!'

'Liar! You're the 'piranha plant genius' round here! You must've known it was going to wake up and attack him!'

Luigi, ever the peacemaker, hastily stepped between them. 'L-listen, I don't know if Waluigi's telling the truth, but we need to hurry and rescue the others. Standing here fighting won't help anyone.' He spared an anxious glance at Wario. 'And, um, since when did you start sticking up for _me?'_

Wario growled. 'I'm not! It's like you said, we need each other. Even I can't tackle Bowser's Castle by myself.' Luigi gaped, not sure what to be more surprised at: his cousin's admission that he couldn't do everything alone, or the matter-of-fact tone he used when saying they needed each other. Wasn't Wario supposed to hate him?

'Um,' he began, but Toadette, getting rapidly more impatient with the proceedings, interrupted.

'There's no more obstacles in the way, right?' she said. Before anyone could even check the map to confirm this, she continued, 'Then let's hurry and _go!'_

They all exchanged glances. Wario looked almost as impatient as she did, Luigi was biting his nails, and Waluigi just seemed bored.

'You're right,' the green-capped plumber finally said when it became obvious that no-one else was going to respond. 'No more distractions, right guys? Let's just hurry to Bowser's Castle, find the princess and Mario, rescue them and come back home.' He somehow doubted he'd be able to keep his companions in line for the rest of the journey, but he was willing to hope.

However, there were no more protests – minus a bit of annoyed, indistinctive grumbling from Waluigi – and the four unlikely heroes once again set off towards their destination.

* * *

><p>When they next halted two hours later, it was beneath growling black skies with bolts of lightning erupting from the clouds.<p>

Luigi leaned over and panted for breath, exhausted after their long trek over Bowser's dark lands, following the relentless pace set by the Evil Brothers. Despite being overweight and usually very lazy, it seemed Wario was capable of moving much faster than any of the rest of them.

Now, they could just barely see the silhouette of the castle on the horizon. Flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the area, showing the spiked walls and twisting dark towers of the building in high definition. An orangey-amber glow emanated from a few of the windows, indicating somebody was inside. A great red flag bearing Bowser's emblem – of his own face – flapped in the cool wind on top of the highest tower.

It was warmer here than in the Mushroom Kingdom due to the abundance of lava rivers and fire. Luigi still found himself shivering uncontrollably, although admittedly for a rather different reason.

'OK,' he said at last, and his voice sounded pitiful in the vast open space that surrounded them. Thin and weak, giving him a sharp reminder of how pathetic he was, of how little chance he'd have to rescue his brother. 'It's... it's time...'

Wario shoved roughly past him to get a better look at the castle, then hummed in admiration. 'When we defeat Bowser, I'm gonna claim this place as my own!' he laughed nastily. 'Whaddya think, Walu?'

His brother wasn't paying much attention. He looked around quickly when he finally noticed Wario was speaking to _him. _'Wha? Oh... yeah. Great.' He went back to staring at the castle with an odd expression, as though he wasn't quite sure whether to feel terrified, impressed, or something entirely different.

Wario, however, didn't seem to have picked up on the lack of enthusiasm in his brother's tone. He went on rambling about the castle's various attributes until Toadette poked him and told him to shut it.

'OK then,' said Luigi, nervously sizing up the monstrosity in front of them. 'What's our plan for defeating Bowser?'

'Assuming we manage to find him without getting spiked to death on his castle's traps first,' Waluigi muttered, but nobody listened to him anymore as he'd stopped talking to them directly a long time ago.

'Well...' Toadette said thoughtfully, 'he's bound to have lots of guards in there as well as the traps. So we need to be ready to fight, at least. I'm just gonna hang back if some idiots appear, all right?' she added uncomfortably, remembering Toads weren't supposed to be good at fighting.

Wario smacked his fists together with a loud crack. 'Ha! Leave the fighting to Wario. I'll wipe the floor with 'em!'

Luigi, smiling slightly, reached into his pocket and drew out a handful of fire flowers, various mushrooms and a miniature POW block. He showed them to Toadette. 'Bet you're glad I bought these, now,' he murmured to her. She rolled her eyes, but privately admitted he'd probably made their lives much easier by picking up those items, for all her complaining in the shop.

'And you?' he turned to look at Waluigi, his voice slightly tense. He still wasn't convinced that his cousin, or rather rival, hadn't attempted to kill him earlier. He must have known the piranha plant would wake up at a loud enough noise, and had deliberately disturbed the beast into attacking Luigi. But he had no proof yet. He'd just have to watch his cousin carefully as they continued.

Waluigi sneered at him. 'Don't worry about me,' he said mockingly. 'Just focus on not getting your own butt kicked.'

'I'm more worried about whether you'll betray us!' Luigi retorted.

Almost instantly, he saw Waluigi's contemptuous expression morph into something akin to disbelief. 'You still think I summoned that piranha on purpose, don't you?'

'Let's just say I don't believe you're being honest,' was the cautious reply. Waluigi scowled, stuffed his hands into his pockets and wandered off without saying anything more. He went to stand behind Wario, who was yelling for everyone to listen.

'Hey! I'm gonna go in first,' he said once he'd successfully gotten them all to look at him. They nodded silently, being accustomed to letting Wario lead the way. 'I'll smash up any guards, then the rest of you morons can come in too.'

'Hey, we can take care of ourselves!' Toadette protested, but he wasn't paying attention. (She was so small Wario had probably forgetten she was even around.)

As they crept up to the front doors of the castle with exaggerated caution, watching out for enemy ambushes along the way, Luigi pulled a couple of items from his pocket and handed them wordlessly to his friend. 'So you can fight too!' he whispered encouragingly when she stared at him in confusion.

Toadette transferred her gaze to the objects in her hands. A fire flower and that miniature POW block – cute little thing, she thought irrelevantly. 'Luigi, I'm not sure these will work for me...' she began.

But he shook his head. 'You'll be fine. Hang onto them, OK? Just in case.' He quickened his pace to catch up with the Evil Brothers before he lost track of them in the semidarkness. Toadette hesitantly pocketed the items and gave pursuit.

* * *

><p>Mario and Peach, after being locked in their room all day, were starting to grow bored by the time darkness fell. A Hammer Bro soldier had come inside to give them each a plate of food a couple of hours ago, looking extremely embarrassed at having to do a servant's work. Peach had been too anxious and worried to eat, so found herself picking at her meal nearly half an hour later.<p>

Mario, of course, had ended up eating both his meal and hers. Food, he told her, was his comfort during hard times. His only regret was that there was no spaghetti. His tone when he said this was so forlorn it made the princess smile a little, even though it looked forced and tense.

Finally, just as night was falling, they became aware of a sound coming from somewhere outside their room. It started out barely audible, but before long had evolved into a noise they both recognised; Bowser growling in annoyance. They knew he tended to get angry for no particular reason, but the sound still unnerved them. Without even thinking, the two clung to each other for reassurance.

'I'll fight him,' Mario said to her, voice low and soothing. 'If he comes in, I'll distract him and you can escape out the door.'

The princess wriggled free from his embrace to look him directly in the eyes. 'No, Mario. I told you already, I won't leave you to face him by yourself. Not anymore.'

'You never used to have a problem with it.'

'Yes, that was before... Before that time you got horribly hurt saving me and we were both stuck in the hospital for days and days...'

Mario smiled slightly in fond memory. 'Ah, I remember that. Good times.'

'Good times?' Peach repeated, disbelieving. 'You called that _good?'_

'Well... it was fun fighting Bowser... the stay in the hospital wasn't exactly a bowl of spaghetti, I admit.'

Peach shook her head. She'd never understand his enjoyment of battling Bowser time and time again, nor why he bothered rescuing her... or his fixation with spaghetti, for that matter. But those traits only seemed to make him more endearing. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she loved him for who he was.

'That's... an odd way of looking at it,' she said. 'But what about this time? What's going to happen to us, and to Luigi?'

Instantly she saw Mario's face fall, the short-lived good humour making way for the fear he'd been half-concealing all day. She'd always found his overprotectiveness of his brother to be amusing, but now, she was faintly annoyed by it. Luigi wasn't a complete idiot. He might have a chance. And even if he didn't, Mario still ought to have a touch more faith in his abilities.

'He'll be all right,' Peach said.

Mario nodded slowly, and she knew he was trying to force himself to believe her. They sat side-by-side in silence for a while, not talking.

'I worry for my brother,' he said after several minutes' pause. 'He was never strong, especially when we were children. He used to be bullied by Waluigi just as I was picked on by Wario. Once he tried to stick up for me, and the results were me getting a broken nose and Luigi ending up in hospital. He's not that powerful, Peach – even now. All we can do here is pray to the star spirits for his safety.'

The princess had gone a little pale, but when he finished his speech she leaned over and enveloped him in another hug. 'It'll be OK,' she murmured. 'I don't know why, but I have... a good feeling about this. I believe Luigi will make it through, with all my heart.' This wasn't entirely the truth. She was every bit as terrified as Mario, but she at least thought Luigi had a chance.

However, her words seemed to reassure him a small amount, for he was noticably more cheerful after that.

Night had truly fallen before they considered going to bed. It felt wrong sleeping in an unfamiliar room, especially in a castle owned by their worst enemy, and they didn't think rest would come easily. It was even worse for Peach, who was accustomed to sleeping in her richly-decorated royal bedroom at home. This room (cell, more like) was made of cold stone with a bubbling lava pit in one corner – as far from cosy as she could imagine.

'Maybe we should sleep in shifts,' suggested Mario in an attempt to alleviate her uneasiness. 'Y'know, one sleeps and one stays up to guard.'

Peach reluctantly agreed to his plan, on the condition that her guard shifts would be longer. She was concerned for Mario, who always fought with all his strength to protect her and would certainly do so again if Bowser turned up. He must need the energy far more than she did.

'I'll wake you in a couple of hours,' he told him as he settled down on the floor, taking off his cap and laying it on his chest instead.

'Sure,' Mario responded, falling asleep almost before he'd finished speaking.

The princess was wide awake for the remainder of her watch, staring at the door while listening with amusement to Mario muttering in his sleep about spaghetti.

* * *

><p>AN: We're not far from the end now. Another two or three chapters perhaps...

To **Guest** (I think the same person reviewing each chapter): Thanks, and merry (late) Christmas to you too!

Please review if you're reading this story, I greatly appreciate it.


	6. Chapter 6

* * * * CHAPTER 6 * * * *

They stole into the castle like thieves, wary of the firelit torches that might throw them into view. Bubbling lava pits were everywhere, splashed seemingly randomly across the floor; Bowser must have had an obsession with them. There were a few narrow, open windows letting in a cool breeze from outside, but the sky was growing dark and most of the light source now came from the torches.

However, luckily for them, the place appeared to be deserted. Even considering how loudly Wario's footsteps reverberated through the empty hall, not a single guard rushed inside to attack them. The eerie silence was grating on Luigi's nerves by the time they reached the end of the first room.

'He can't have just abandoned this place!' he whispered. Toadette, who was tiptoeing along beside him, merely shrugged.

'We know Mario and Peach are here,' she whispered back. 'And if they're here, we'll find them no matter what's going on.'

Waluigi barged past and lunged for the brass doorknob, obviously eager to get out of this particular room. But as he did so, he trod on Luigi's foot and nearly sent the green-capped plumber flying into a nearby lava hole. The only thing that saved him was Toadette grabbing his arm and digging her heels into the floor.

'WALU!' bellowed an indignant Wario, effortlessly dragging both Luigi and the young Toad girl away from the frothing jaws of the pit. 'You're doing it again!'

'Sorry, sorry,' his taller brother muttered, not sounding quite as apologetic as he should have done. He tried the doorknob again, managed to get it open this time, and strode into the next room without even glancing back to check on his companions.

Wario huffed and quickly released Toadette's hand, looking slightly embarrassed and very annoyed. 'I dunno what's got into him lately,' he growled, heading for the doorway himself. 'You'd better get a move on, weaklings!' He vanished inside, irritably mumbling something in Italian which Luigi didn't want to listen in on too closely.

'G-grazie...' he muttered, following. He wasn't sure whether or not Wario heard, but Toadette nodded and hurried after him.

The next room of the castle was much more advanced in appearance, although still noticeably empty in terms of life. There were a few more lava holes, some ugly Bowser statues, chipped paintings on the walls (also picturing the Koopa King), and a stone pillar surrounded by a swirling line of fireballs. They swung around in a wide circle; Luigi felt the heat radiating from them before he got anywhere close.

'A Firebar,' he said, and everyone nodded.

'We need to steer clear of that!' Toadette warned, despite realising she was stating the obvious. 'I once saw Mario jumping over one. It nearly burned him.'

Flinching slightly at the casual mention of his brother, who was trapped in the depths of the castle, possibly hurt – or worse – Luigi stepped closer to examine the size of the Firebar.

'I think we can jump it,' he said in a trembling voice. Those roaring flames were so near. It almost felt like he was already burning, and they were still at least ten feet away from the thing!

Waluigi pushed everyone out of the way and stared arrogantly at the spinning Firebar.

'Wait, bro!' Wario growled. 'I'm gonna go first –' His words fell on deaf ears, as Waluigi had already sprinted forwards and thrown himself over the flames. He was an impressive jumper, able to reach even higher than Luigi normally could, but he still barely cleared the top of the Firebar.

Wario transferred his gaze to the others. 'How're we supposed to do it, then?' he asked stupidly, inwardly rather glad he'd let Waluigi go ahead first.

Luigi sighed. 'I think I can jump it, but you, Wario, and you, Toadette, should crawl beneath it instead. You're shorter.'

'You callin' me short?' Wario snarled, but was pushed aside by Toadette before a fully-fledged argument could erupt.

Together, the cousins watched in awe as the small girl hurtled towards the whirling flames without showing any visible fear at all, ducking under the fireballs once, twice, three times, before leaping to safety across the other side. She looked out of breath, but Luigi, inspecting her from a distance, was relieved to see she was completely unharmed.

'Your turn,' he said quietly, but Wario didn't need telling. He threw himself underneath the Firebar, rolled along the flagstone floor until he was clear of it, then straightened up with some difficulty. Not nearly as graceful as Toadette's method, but it worked, and that was the important thing.

Wario shot an impatient gesture in his cousin's direction. Luigi knew what it meant. 'My turn,' he whispered to himself, then charged forwards before he lost his courage.

The heat pouring off the fire in great, overflowing waves didn't abate as he drew closer. He felt sweat running down his face as he gathered himself to jump, seeing the deadly bar rushing straight for him. When the amber-red flames were less than two feet away, he sprung upwards with all his strength, reaching up for the ceiling with a great yell; the Firebar passed underneath him without a sound. Almost as soon as his feet hit the floor he saw it rushing towards him for a second attempt.

'Go, Luigi!' Toadette screamed, punching the air. 'You can make it!'

He jumped again, a little too early. He had to twist into a backflip in mid-air to give himself a bit of extra height, grunting with the exertion. When he landed, he quickly leapt forwards and dived aside, nearly toppling into another lava pit but filled with relief when he realised he'd done it. He was alive.

Toadette was running over now, grinning from ear-to-ear (wait, she doesn't have ears?) and patting him on the shoulder in congratulations. 'I knew you could do it,' she told him. 'Wario kept saying you were gonna die, though.'

Luigi slowly got to his feet and looked across at his larger cousin. 'Thanks for the support,' he said dryly.

Wario grunted something indistinctive and turned away. Waluigi just sneered. He was probably disappointed that his rival _hadn't _died.

As Toadette grabbed his hand and led him towards the door while chattering cheerfully, Luigi muttered, 'One trap down... but what could be coming next?'

* * *

><p>As it turned out, the next room had very little in it. Obviously there were more lava pits – what a surprise, Luigi found himself thinking sarcastically. But other than that the place was almost empty.<p>

'Look,' said Toadette, tugging on his sleeve and pointing out a single stone statue in the middle of the room. It was of Bowser, and had strange glowing red eyes that appeared eerily real. It seemed as though the statue's gaze could follow them wherever they went. Maybe it was some kind of camera, and Bowser was using it right now to spy on them?

Wario, being the most fearless of the group, immediately stomped over to investigate the statue in spite of his brother's and Luigi's warnings.

'I-I'm not sure if you should –' the green-capped plumber stammered nervously. But Wario was already reaching out to touch the statue. He leaned against it, grinning cockily.

'See? Nothing to worry about! It's completely safe – AAARRGH!'

The Bowser statue's eyes suddenly lit up with a flash, and a long thin beam of fire – or perhaps lava – erupted from both eyes. It was like a red-hot laser. Wario leapt away from the thing with a startled yelp, though not quite quickly enough to avoid it singeing the seat of his overalls.

'Not a good idea...' said Luigi, trying, not entirely successfully, to bite back the chuckle rising in his throat. Toadette's hand was covering her mouth and she was carefully averting her gaze from the scene, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

'Yeeess!' growled Wario, hurriedly patting out the flames on his clothing. His expression was twisted into a mixture of nervousness and outrage, which for some reason only made them laugh more. 'Gee, don't ask if I'm all right or anything.'

'We know you're fine, Wario!' complained Waluigi, who was obviously getting impatient standing around with nothing to do. 'Can we just figure out how to get past this thing?'

They all sobered as their attention was drawn back to the ugly statue.

'Does it only activate when you touch it?' queried Toadette. 'I mean, it didn't do anything until Wario got close.'

'Maybe...' Luigi bit his lip. 'I think it's probably there to stop us getting to the next room. So it'll activate when we touch the door.'

'So why'd it attack Fatso then?'

'Hey!' growled Wario indignantly. This time, everyone was too busy to laugh at him.

'I think it just burned him as a warning,' said Luigi softly. 'In any case, I think we'll be safe unless we go near that door.' He indicated the exit in front of them. There was no way to open it without brushing against the statue, as it was positioned so close behind it.

Wario grunted impatiently and clapped his giant hands together. 'Just hurry and think up some clever plan, will you?!'

'Why can't _you _do the planning for a change?' Luigi shot back.

Wario faltered, but then snapped, 'I do the fighting, you do the thinking. That's just how it goes!'

Waluigi muttered something about excuses, but nobody was paying him the slightest bit of attention anymore. Ignored, angry, and (although he'd never admit it) lonely, he skulked in the corner and waited for everyone else to figure out what to do.

After all, why should _he _make an effort help them?

He wasn't the hero... he wasn't anything.


	7. Chapter 7

* * * * CHAPTER 7 * * * *

The storage room of Bowser's Castle was home to all kinds of odd things, most of which had been left there and forgotten. There was food rotting in large crates and barrels, mountains upon mountains of coins (yellow, red and blue), some mushrooms, and a few other treasures. The Koopa King had thrown all these objects into the storage room after collecting them and, being of short memory, hadn't bothered to come back for them later.

Occasionally one of his troops would be slacking off work and, out of curiosity, would wander into this room and wind up making their fortune. Kamek and the rest of the magikoopas had attempted to have the thieves caught, but Bowser hadn't cared enough about his treasure to put in any security measures.

Now, as Luigi and his small rescue party stormed the upper levels of the castle, the storage room was deserted. A rat scuttled under the floorboards, shaking some dust off the tops of the crates.

Then the door creaked open an inch, letting in a stream of amber firelight from the hallway beyond.

With a grunt, Captain Toad pushed aside the boxes that were preventing the door from opening fully and crept into the room. The light on his head illuminated every crack and corner, showing off piles of dust and more wooden containers, along with the gleam of shining coins, jewels and strange, unidentifiable items.

He stopped a couple of paces from the doorway and glanced back nervously, wondering if he was being stupid by creeping into Bowser's Castle like this. He should have brought the rest of his Brigade along – they could have given him the backup he felt he desperately needed right now. But he _wasn't _a coward, he told himself, and returned to his task of examining the treasure.

He adjusted his headlight and looked behind the crates in the corner, finding more yellow coins and some odd-looking stone carvings. There was far too much treasure for him to take it all... but he threw whatever he could into his backpack, not stopping long enough to examine what his fingers were closing on. He needed to get his job done and escape, before any of Bowser's minions found him.

A rumbling tremor shook dust loose from the ceiling, just as he was reaching out for another piece of treasure. He froze, dimly recognising the sound as one of Bowser's giant footsteps. A moment later, lots of smaller tremors hit the floor above as what seemed like hundreds of troops ran across.

Captain Toad let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. It looked like Bowser was organising his army to attack something. He knew Mario was stuck in this castle, and he knew of Luigi's efforts to rescue him. Maybe he could help? But he wasn't a fighter or a hero, he was just a Toad. What could _he _do?

Indecisively, he stuffed a few more items into his pack and hurried out of the storage room as fast as his short legs could carry him. His ship, the Starshroom, was just outside the castle. If he reached it quickly enough, maybe... just maybe he could do something to help Luigi...

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the 'rescue team' were still trapped in the room with the Bowser statue that shot flames at them whenever they got close. Neither Wario nor Waluigi were making any effort to come up with a plan of their own, so it was up to Luigi and Toadette to think of something.<p>

'Maybe we could use Wario as bait,' the girl suggested, without any trace in her expression to imply she was joking. 'You know, get him to distract the statue while the rest of us run for the door.'

Luigi shook his head with a smile, though he privately admitted the plan had its merits. Except he'd rather use Waluigi as bait, since his tall, skinny rival kept getting him into trouble; first by awakening a piranha plant to attack him, and then by almost pushing him into a lava hole. He still wasn't sure whether to accept those things as complete accidents or not. It was hard to tell with someone like Waluigi, who despite being willing to work together with his cousin, obviously still possessed a strong dislike of him that bordered on hatred.

He shut out these thoughts and tried to focus on finding a way out of this room. The Bowser statue blocked the door, and they couldn't get past it without waking it up.

Then Toadette seemed to remember something. 'Luigi,' she said. 'What about those items you got?'

Confused, he was about to ask her what she meant when he suddenly remembered the things he'd bought in the shop before leaving town. He fished into his pocket and pulled out an array of strange objects, mostly mushrooms, but also one or two items that might be used as a weapon.

Toadette grinned. 'How about that POW block?'

'I gave that to you.'

'Whoops! I forget.'

She reached into her own pocket, finding the items Luigi had given her just before they entered the castle. The miniature, colourful box was deceptively harmless in appearance, but they both knew what kind of damage it was capable of causing. A full-sized POW block could overturn cars on a road – even a small one like this was dangerous enough to be useful.

She tossed it casually in the air and grabbed it before it could hit the floor. 'On the statue?' she said.

'Yeah,' replied Luigi, then turned to his cousins and reluctantly added, 'Brace yourselves!'

'What for?!' growled Wario, who hadn't been listening in on their conversation.

Toadette threw the POW block upwards again, but this time, instead of catching it, she leapt back and allowed it to strike the ground. It exploded on impact and a dull _boom _shook the air, the kind that you feel rather than hear, and the walls and floor trembled. They all grabbed onto each other to avoid losing their balance, and for once Luigi was glad of his rival's presence as the room shook around them. Wario fell over with a scream.

When the noise of the explosion faded, Toadette unplugged her fingers from her ears (wait, she still doesn't have ears?) and said joyously, 'Look! The statue fell! We did it!'

Luigi and Waluigi exchanged glances, realised they were still holding onto each other and immediately let go as if burned. Wario picked himself up with a grumble. Then they all turned towards the Bowser statue. Sure enough, it had toppled sideways in the commotion and shattered on the floor; nothing was left besides a few fragments of stone and a lot of dust.

'We can get to the door now!' cheered Toadette, and ran towards it without looking back at her companions. Which was probably good for her, as Wario was still grumbling and scowling at everybody, and Luigi was wiping his hands on his overalls as though he'd touched something diseased. Waluigi was doing the same, except it was accompanied by semi-audible swearing in Italian.

Without a word, the untidy group stepped over the statue pieces and went for the doorway. They followed Toadette into the next, and as it turned out, final room.

* * *

><p>Bowser interrupted his two prisoners late in the night by bursting through the guarded door, roaring.<p>

'What in the Stars, Bowser?!' cried Peach, indignant at having her peace disturbed by the evil king. Even worse, she knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself or Mario from him if he wanted to fight.

Mario, of course, woke up from all the noise, looking momentarily confused before he remembered where they were. 'Huh? What time is it?' he asked tiredly, still half-asleep and unaware of what was going on. Then he caught sight of Bowser and his eyes widened in shock. He scrambled to his feet, trying to get in front of Peach to protect her.

The Koopa King just laughed. 'Fight all you want, _Mario!' _he boomed. 'It won't do you any good, and it won't save your wimp of a brother either.'

'L-Luigi's here?!' the plumber stuttered. He was honestly amazed that his little sibling had made it inside the castle, and survived long enough to attract Bowser's attention. A spark of hope came to life. Maybe Luigi really _did _have a chance, a small one...

'Yep. He's about to come charging in here to rescue you two, but I won't let him.' Bowser swiped the air with a clawed fist. 'It's time for the final battle, Mario, and I wonder... is your brother gonna put up a good fight? I want this to be at least mildly entertaining!'

With his roaring laughter echoing behind him, Bowser turned and stomped out of the room. The doors closed, and they heard the thud of boots as his minions stood on guard once more.

* * *

><p>AN: So, it's almost time for the battle against Bowser... will everything go well for our 'heroes?'

Credit to Thegeniusyoshi for giving me the idea of adding Captain Toad into the story! Just so everyone knows, I haven't played Super Mario 3D World or Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. I only know him from the Galaxy games. So he'll be based off how I see him there.

And Guest, you're about right... Waluigi resents that Luigi gets more attention than him, despite being an 'overlooked' person. He joined this little search party in an attempt to gain more fame for himself. He also hates Luigi but isn't trying to kill him on purpose.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this extra-long chapter! (This isn't the last one.)

* * *

><p>* * * * CHAPTER 8 * * * *<p>

After that awful statue room, the quartet found themselves in a larger hallway filled with – guess what, more lava pits. There were also some Thwomps, but they were not positioned in a way that blocked the path to the next door. Even so, Luigi couldn't help peering nervously upwards in anticipation as he led his companions forwards, waiting for some unseen monster to come crashing down on his head.

'It looks kinda empty in here,' observed Waluigi, folding his arms and staring around the room. He didn't look frightened, which made Luigi think he was either very brave or good at hiding his emotions. Even Wario was starting to develop an uneasy expression.

It wasn't too surprising. After the chaos of the last two rooms – the traps and the Firebar and the Bowser statue – it seemed almost eerily still in here. As though nothing, not even the surface of the lava, was moving. Luigi had to check his pocket three times as he walked, obsessively ascertaining whether he still held all his supplies. He did.

Then Toadette raised a hand, signalling for the others to stop. 'Something's gonna attack us if we go any further,' she said, her voice very small. 'I'm sure of it.'

Luigi didn't waste time asking how she knew. 'Everyone, go back,' he whispered, flapping an arm frantically in an effort to get the Evil Brothers' attention. They were both inspecting a Thwomp and seemingly unaware of any danger.

'Wuh?' grunted Wario stupidly – and not very quietly – as he turned around.

Luigi opened his mouth to explain, but never had time to utter so much as a squeak. Something beat him to it.

Without any warning the door at the far end of the room swung open and crashed back against the stone wall, the horrible noise making them all jump. Before they could register what was happening, Koopatrols and Hammer Bros came pouring through the doorway, armed to the teeth and yelling battle-cries.

'Bowser's minions!' screamed Toadette in fear. 'Look out!'

Wario snarled and struck a heroic pose, fist raised, ready to deal some damage. 'Stand back, idiots, I'll deal with 'em!'

'No, you don't!' Waluigi interrupted, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him back. 'We're in this together, aren't we?'

Toadette swung around, black eyes wide with terror as she silently asked Luigi for help. Without thinking he knelt down to her level. 'Stay out of this!' he whispered, low and urgent. 'You can't fight. Just... just concentrate on keeping yourself safe, OK?'

She nodded, though beyond her fear he could see her concern for him, sharp as ice. 'Look after yourself too,' she told him, then stepped back into a corner.

Bowser's troops fell upon the three adventurers like a tidal wave, and the entire room instantly became a battlefield filled with chaos. Wario could cause enormous destruction with his fists, bringing multiple enemies to the floor with a single blow. Waluigi summoned a small whirlwind and blew a couple of Hammer Bros away, sending them into a confused spin. Luigi grabbed the Fire Flower from his pocket and started tossing fireballs at anyone who came near.

'You're dead, scum!' growled a Koopatrol's distorted, metallic voice right in his ear, and he gasped as a strong hand gripped his arm and dragged him backwards. A grip like that couldn't be broken.

'No!' he shouted. _'You are – _you helped kidnap the princess and my brother!' He fought viciously, using strength he hadn't known he possessed to stop the Koopatrol throwing him into a nearby lava hole. He kicked back and felt the sharp thud of connection. The creature grunted and released him.

He whirled around, intending to use his last fireball to defeat the Koopatrol, but someone got in front of him and punched it savagely several times, knocking it unconscious.

Wario laughed as he kicked the motionless body out of the way and glanced back at his cousin. 'Thank me later,' he said with a nasty grin before charging off into the midst of the battle.

Luigi spun around and hurled his last fireball at one of the Hammer Bros, then set his teeth grimly as he felt the power-up fade. 'On my own now,' he whispered and ran to join his cousins in the fray. Whatever his feelings towards Wario and Waluigi, he knew they needed his help now, just as he needed theirs.

His lightning-quick inspection of the battlefield told him there were at least ten Hammer Bros left and even more Koopatrols, for the latter kept calling in reinforcements. He needed to defeat them fast, before they summoned more of their friends to join the fight.

Without a Fire Flower or other power-up to aid him, Luigi was a clumsy fighter, possessing neither the physical strength or Wario nor the bizarre abilities of his rival Waluigi. He tried to mimic the attack patterns he'd seen Mario use, the punches and kicks and stomps that could take down almost any opponent. It was slow-going at first, but as the battle progressed he found himself becoming more competent, able to defend himself without his companions' help.

Once or twice he swore he heard somebody cry out, and spent most of his time glancing around worriedly. But whenever he caught a glimpse of Wario and Waluigi among the swarm of battling troops, they appeared to be completely unharmed.

'Ha!' he cried as a Hammer Bro sneaked up on him and tried to whack him over the head with its signature weapon. It stumbled backwards as Luigi punched it hard, following up with a quick combination of attacks that sent the minion flying backwards across the room.

He paused, gasping for breath, taken off-guard by the sudden lack of sound.

Near the door, Wario dumped another unconscious body at his feet and rubbed his hands together wearily. Waluigi was still half-crouched, poised to attack, and a bit of wind was circling around him as though he'd started to create a tornado but lost heart halfway through the attempt.

'It's over!' the short overweight man shouted, breaking the silence.

Toadette emerged from her corner, looking fearful and pale-faced but otherwise unaffected by the battle. When she spotted Luigi she ran straight over and threw her arms around him. 'I really wanted to come and help you!' she told him. 'But instead I had to sit there doing nothing. I _hate_ not being able to fight!'

Luigi, still high-strung after the battle, nearly shoved her away before realising she wasn't an enemy. He let out a slow breath and patted her soothingly on top of the head. 'You did great,' he said.

'I didn't do _anything.'_

Waluigi cut into the conversation at that moment, half-glancing distastefully at Luigi. It was obvious how much he hated having to speak to his rival. 'If you don't mind me saying,' he sneered, 'she's not gonna be able to hide in a corner when we fight Bowser. You can't protect her then.'

The realisation hit Luigi like a Hammer Bros' weapon. Waluigi was actually right.

'Toadette, maybe you should, you know... stay here while we look for Bowser...' he started.

The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at him. 'Don't even think about that! We've come this far together, haven't we? I'm not leaving you while you face the most dangerous part of this adventure.'

Luigi sighed softly; he'd known all along he wouldn't be able to convince her to stay behind where she was safe, but he had to try anyway.

'So,' he said, keeping his voice low-pitched. He gestured towards the door leading into the next room. 'Do we have to go... in there?'

Wario cracked his knuckles. 'If that's where Bowser is, then yeah!' Waluigi nodded wordlessly in agreement. 'What, are you chickening out on me already?'

'OK, I knew you were the wrong person to ask,' muttered Luigi. He checked his item supplies yet again, coming up with a single Mushroom and a pink Life Shroom. He stared distastefully at the latter, wondering why he'd decided to buy it in the first place. Life Shrooms only activated if somebody died. He knew Bowser didn't pose enough of a threat for _that _to happen... right? He'd never killed Mario...

Though he'd come close. Very close, Luigi thought with a shudder, remembering the time his brother had returned home injured and half-conscious after a massive showdown against the evil king.

He guessed it never hurt to be prepared for the worst. He shoved the Life Shroom back into his pocket.

'Are you all ready?' he asked, and was faintly surprised by how calm his voice sounded, utterly in contrast with the fear raging within. He shouldn't be doing this. He wasn't a hero. He was a coward.

Waluigi nodded impatiently, Wario barked 'Yes!' and Toadette merely crossed her arms and tapped her shoe against the floor. She gazed up at him with serious, determined eyes, and he knew he'd have at least one friend watching his back in this battle.

He turned to the final door. 'Then let's go...'

* * *

><p>The room was full of spikes. And fireballs.<p>

Luigi and his small band f unlikely heroes stood motionless in the entryway, reduced to silence by the sheer size of the area before them. In the centre of the room was a massive lava pit, bubbling and boiling away. Hanging suspended above this pit was a stone platform roughly as big as the whole of Mario and Luigi's house, with a low spiked wall running around the edge. There was another door behind the pit, this one very tall and made of some strange crimson metal, flanked by two Koopatrols.

Luigi made a safe bet that the room beyond that door was where the prisoners were being held.

However, he only had a fraction of a second to take in the magnificence of the place before he noticed the shape standing, waiting, on the central platform.

'Bowser,' he gasped, barely able to speak. By the Stars, he was so huge. Luigi could see tiny embers flickering in the Koopa King's open jaws, and his claws were glinting in the dim firelight. He wore thick, spiked bracelets around both arms and another around his neck. He was three times Luigi's height and possessed physical power that rivalled, if not exceeded, that of Wario.

Bowser saw the four 'heroes' coming in, and threw back his head to let out a booming, derisive laugh.

'Bwa ha ha! You finally made it!' he roared. 'I was just talking to your brother, you know...'

'Y-y-you spoke to Mario?' Luigi had managed to find his voice, somehow. 'I-is he O-OK?'

Bowser bared his massive teeth. 'Yeah, yeah, they're fine. _You're _not gonna be fine in a few minutes, though! By the way, Weegee... it seems like your brother lacks confidence in you... he thinks you're not gonna make it...'

Luigi growled; he _hated _that stupid nickname. Wario had created it when they were children, and it'd obviously gotten passed around since then. 'Then I'll save Mario and prove to him I'm not weak.'

'We _all _know you're a coward, Weegee. It's OK, there's no shame in backing off if you're scared...' Bowser's jaws fell open in a nightmarish grin.

'I won't run away.' Luigi briefly spared a glance for his companions, knowing that if this fight went horribly wrong he might never see them in one piece again. Toadette seemed to catch his expression.

'Don't worry so much, Luigi,' she said quietly, but with that stubborn note he was so used to hearing in her voice. She'd never back down no matter how much danger they were in.

'Yeah, we're gonna destroy this guy!' said Wario, slapping his smaller cousin hard on the back. He'd never done this before, and Luigi wondered if it was supposed to be a gesture of encouragment as he tried to avoid falling on his face. 'I could take him on with both hand tied together.'

Waluigi didn't offer any morale-boosting words, but he caught his rival's eyes for a split second and nodded reluctantly. Luigi felt oddly more brave after seeing the confidence of his teammates. Taking a deep breath, he ran forwards and sprang a high jump up onto the central platform.

His feet just barely missed the spiked wall. As he landed, he heard the grunts from Wario and Waluigi as they followed him. Toadette was slower, but nevertheless leapt onto the platform and came to stand beside him. Her fearlessness was astounding, and he wasn't sure whether it was a facade or not.

Bowser shook his mane and roared, the noise making the floor trembling and the lava bubbles jump out of the pit below them.

'It's time for the final battle, Weegee!' he bellowed, and there was no longer a trace of mirth or mockery in his tone. It was all rage, red-hot and destructive. 'Whatever happens, I'm gonna win this!'

'And I'm not giving up until my brother and Peach are free,' replied Luigi in a voice little above a whisper.

He hadn't planned exactly how the attack would go. Bowser tended to use different methods every time Mario fought him, so it was hard to predict what he might decide to do – but Luigi was prepared for anything.

As the Koopa King threw his head forwards to blast the heroes with a torrent of crackling flame, Luigi jumped high, right up to the ceiling, and landed somewhere on the other side of the central platform. Meanwhile the Evil Brothers were distracting Bowser by leaping around erratically in his line of vision.

Luigi took advantage of this moment to spring forward and land a powerful kick at Bowser's shell. He nearly impaled his foot on a white spike, but the impact was enough to make the Koopa King stumble slightly. Wario immediately leapt in and aimed a punch at his nose, which connected solidly and drew a howl of surprised pain.

Bowser staggered around, swiping his long claws at the heroes. The platform was big, but not big enough for a fight such as this.

Unable to dodge, Wario was struck and thrown to the floor. Luigi watched, biting his lip hard, but his cousin quickly climbed to his feet again, evading Bowser's death-blow. Whatever injuries he'd taken weren't serious enough to stop him from fighting, though his movements seemed slower and more clumsy than before.

Waluigi yelled in rage when he saw what happened to his brother. The Koopa King heard and spun around, grinning in savage joy as he attacked again, this time aiming a tight-fisted punch with near-perfect accuracy.

The blow would have made contact, and probably tossed Waluigi's scrawny body right off the platform, but an unexpected rescuer appeared. Toadette ran screaming out of nowhere and cannoned into Bowser's side, throwing him momentarily off-balance so his punch completely missed its target.

Waluigi ran away, unhurt, but now Bowser's full attention was on Toadette and all hell had broken loose. He roared, chasing her across the central platform, blowing small flames from his nostrils and slashing the air wildly with his claws.

Luigi watched all of this happening in the space of a few seconds. When he realised the Koopa King was attempting to kill Toadette, he immediately started forwards to help her before hesitating.

Bowser was obviously very powerful this time around. Too powerful for Mario to beat, and definitely too much of a threat for Luigi to deal with... he needed the aid of his companions. They were the only way for him to win this battle.

The old fortuneteller Merlon had been right. There was nothing he could do to defeat Bowser on his own.

In a split second, he'd come up with a strategy.

Dodging a claw swipe that came precariously close to taking his eye out, Luigi ran around the edge of the central platform while Bowser was occupied with pursuing Toadette. On the other side he found Waluigi, leaning on his knees as he panted for air, and Wario, staggering on the spot as if drunk. He dashed up to his shorter cousin and tapped him on the shoulder.

'Wha's up?' growled Wario impatiently.

'I have a plan to defeat him,' muttered Luigi. Moving closer, he explained what he intended to do in as few words as possible. Wario stopped looking angry after a moment, and starting frowning, as if he were actually thinking about it.

'That's not guaranteed to work,' he said once Luigi was done. 'I mean, what if you miss or something?'

'It's the only thing I can think of!' Luigi snapped back. 'Can _you _come up with anything better?'

'All right, all right!' Wario raised his hands. 'Get on with it.'

Luigi didn't need telling twice, especially when he heard a terrified shriek from Toadette as she continued to run for her life. He raced to the other side of the central platform and managed to get behind Bowser without being noticed. His heart was thumping in his chest and his hands were slick with sweat beneath his gloves.

Toadette was cowering in the corner by that point, hands thrown up to cover her face as Bowser loomed over her, grinning his fiery grin. 'Any last requests, weakling?' he chuckled.

She might have answered – what she'd have said, nobody ever knew – but right then Bowser was stopped by someone grabbing his tail and swinging him around the other way. He roared, flames erupting from his mouth and forcing everyone to duck.

Luigi had to use all his power to spin the gigantic Koopa King around in a circle, gathering speed. He was only copying something he'd heard Mario do once, a long time ago, and he hadn't been at all sure if the strategy would work on this new and improved Bowser. But apparently it did.

'Wario!' he cried at the top of his lungs. 'TO YOU!' When he was spinning Bowser as fast as he possibly could, he suddenly released his grip. The Koopa King's body flew through the air, momentum propelling him a good distance forwards. But it wasn't enough to throw him entirely off the platform.

Then Wario appeared, flinging himself directly into Bowser's path, still staggering unsteadily as he lifted a huge fist and slammed it into the evil king's side. The strike was so powerful that, combined with Luigi's throw, it was enough to send Bowser toppling uncontrollably off the spiked edge of the platform and into the simmering lava below.

He sunk for a handful of seconds, then his head rose up again, bellowing in fury and waving a clawed hand threateningly at them.

He sunk again, more slowly, and this time they never saw him rise to the surface.

The four heroes stared dumbly at each other as though they couldn't believe they'd actually accomplished what they came here for. None of them could speak, and there was no sound save the gentle bubbling of the lava.

It was over.

* * *

><p>'No,' a voice whispered menacingly out of the shadows. 'Not quite yet.' And one of the Koopatrol guards by the door pulled out a remote control and tapped a large red button labelled, 'DO NOT TOUCH'.<p>

Immediately, the entire room began shaking violently like a bomb about to detonate. The heroes still standing up on the central platform cried out in shock and looked around wildly for the source of the commotion. A few chunks of stone came cascading down from the ceiling as parts of the castle slowly began to fall apart.

His job done, the Koopatrol guard beckoned to his friend and dashed out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him.

Luigi stared at his companions, terrified and not sure what to do. 'We gotta get out of here!' he cried, which was the same thought running through everyone else's heads.

'How?!' retorted Waluigi, holding his skinny arms above his head to avoid getting brained by the falling debris. 'It'll take too long to get out the normal way!'

'I know that!' Desperately, Luigi tried to come up with another plan, this time to save his companions. But his mind had gone blank. It seemed as though the noise and chaos of the collapsing castle had removed his ability to think. No... there had to be a way out... he just wasn't seeing it.

'Luigi! LUIGI!' a voice was screaming. Someone was tugging on his sleeve and he glanced down, vaguely surprised to see Toadette there, and wondering why she looked so frightened. 'GET OUT OF THE WAY!'

He turned his gaze up to the ceiling and finally realised what she was talking about. He felt stupid for not seeing it earlier, but it didn't really matter anymore, because he was going to die in a couple of seconds.

Alarge piece of the ceiling had cracked and was falling down, directly above his head. It was huge, about Bowser's size, and where it had been there was now a jagged hole through which the night sky was visible. He couldn't dodge. All he could do was shove Toadette out of the way, snap his eyes shut, and hope his brother escaped safely.

Then the world went mercifully black, and he never had time to feel any pain.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Last chapter!

Reply to Thegeniusyoshi: Don't worry, he's still here. He doesn't have a very large role, but that's because this is only a short story.

* * *

><p>* * * * CHAPTER 9 * * * *<p>

Toadette was sitting on a plastic chair inside Toad Town Hospital, absently tapping out a tune with her fingers on the edge of the bed. She was the only one here – well, the only conscious one.

It was early in the morning, perhaps 6AM. The chaos of last night, the terror and fire and pain was behind her now, but she couldn't help thinking back on it. The events had already begun to seem unreal to her.

_Flashback..._

_Toadette's screaming was high, shrill and filled with fear, and the Evil Brothers – for all their stupidity – immediately knew something was very wrong. Wario was ducking and dodging around the pieces of rubble raining down from the ceiling, his unknown injuries slowing him considerably. Waluigi poked him and leaned close in an effort to make himself heard over the commotion._

_'We're one down.'_

_'Wuuh?' Wario grunted, looking around. The central platform where they'd fought Bowser was already starting to collapse under the weight of the falling ceiling, and it wouldn't be long before it sank into the lava below. Then he caught sight of Luigi for the first time, lying motionless on the floor with Toadette kneeling beside him, and his eyes widened._

_'Someone grab him! We gotta get out of here fast!'_

_Despite this, he made no move to run to his fallen cousin._

_The door at the far end of the room had burst open now that the Koopatrol guards were no longer there, and two familiar figures came running out. Mario and Peach looked none the worse for wear after their imprisonment – Bowser must not have hurt them. But when they spotted Luigi, they both cried out in shock._

_Mario immediately took charge of the situation, jumping up onto the central platform, gently pulling the princess with him. He stood protectively over his little brother.'We need to run!' he shouted. 'Is there any way out of this room?'_

_'Whaddya think we've been trying to figure out, idiot?!' growled Wario._

_Then Waluigi growled impatiently and pointed a finger up at the large, stained-glass window high on the wall. 'Something's coming!' he yelled._

_Everyone quickly followed his gaze. Sure enough, the sound of a whirring engine was very faintly audible over the chaos of the collapsing room, so quiet it could have been their imagination. But it was growing louder. 'It's a spaceship,' Wario grunted, stupidly._

_Waluigi face-palmed in exasperation, but for once his brother was actually right. The castle shook a little more, dislodging stone and brick from the roof above, and with an almighty crash the window shattered and something large and red burst through._

_'It's the Starshroom!' screamed Toadette, not sure whether to keep crying over her fallen friend or laugh in sheer relief._

_The ship made short work of landing on the crumbling central platform, avoiding the lumps of debris crashing down from above. The door opened and a familiar figure dashed out, looking frankly terrified._

_'Quick! Climb aboard!' he said._

_For a moment the three heroes could only stare at each other in shock, then the lure of an escape route took over everything else. Waluigi was the first inside the Starshroom, making no attempt to grab Luigi along the way. It was up to Mario to half-carry, half-drag his motionless brother's body off the central platform and through the entrance of the waiting ship._

_The next few seconds were nothing more than a blur in Toadette's mind as the Starshroom took off again, spinning crazily through the air to avoid the falling stones. It seemed to hesitate for a moment, then flew up and out of the hole in the ceiling, which was by then more than large enough to admit it. All she could remember after that was running to throw her arms around Captain Toad, nearly sobbing with relief and gratitude that her friend had saved them._

Now, she was sitting stock-still beside a white-blanketed bed in the Hospital, edgy and exhausted. She hadn't slept more than a few minutes since Captain Toad brought them safely back into town and the medics had rushed over to them with stretchers.

Wario had shaken off his injuries like it was nothing, of course, laughing loudly and waving away anyone who tried to approach him. Waluigi had come to stand by his brother's side, putting a long thin arm around his shoulder, and only then did Wario's false bravado fade and his expression turned to concern for his companions.

Mario had accompanied the medics who carried Luigi into the Hospital. Peach, on the other hand, opted to stay behind and speak to the others.

That had all happened late in the night. Now it was morning, and Toadette was sitting in an almost empty room with only an unconscious Luigi and a sleeping Mario for company. She sighed and reached across the bed, stroking a bit of her friend's hair out of his eyes. His cap was lying on the desk beside him. He didn't stir at her touch, didn't even twitch. But he was alive.

She smiled and leaned back in her chair to sleep.

* * *

><p>He felt heavy and immobile when he awoke, and his head was pounding like a Hammer Bro had used it for target practice. It seemed like too much effort to move, so he lay back and tried to ascertain where he was without opening his eyes.<p>

He was lying on something warm and soft... a bed, obviously. But this room didn't smell like his and Mario's house. It smelled too clean. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, he listened for any noises that might give him an indication of what was going on. But everything was completely silent, until he picked out the faint sound of snoring coming from somewhere to his right.

This time his curiosity was too powerful to ignore, and with a painful groan he slowly turned his head to that side and opened his eyes a fraction.

The room blurred heavily, white against white, but after he blinked several times he was able to see details. He was lying on a bed in some kind of hospital room, and there were two plastic chairs off to his right, with familiar people sitting in them. One was clearly awake, while the other was slumped forwards in a dead sleep.

He met Toadette's eyes for a split second before she flung herself forwards and hugged him fiercely. No words, just an embrace that seemed to be trying to tell him everything was all right. But he couldn't bring himself to believe it, and as the details of last night began to flow back into his brain he needed to ask the question.

'Toadette, what happened? Is everyone... is everyone...'

'They're fine,' she said, finally releasing him and sitting up in her chair, smiling a little tearfully. 'They're all fine, Luigi. We saved them.'

'Th-then Mario and Peach...? And how did we get out of that room?'

'Oh, that was amazing!' she laughed. 'I thought we were all gonna die, but Captain Toad appeared out of _nowhere _and ferried us away in his ship. He was so terrified, but he did it to save us.'

Well, at least he knew they were all OK. Toadette would be a lot more sad if someone had died in there. But at the mention of death he remembered something else... a memory of the ceiling collapsing and a giant chunk of stone crashing down on his head, then a peculiar warm blackness that surrounded everything.

'I'm pretty sure I died too...' he said dryly.

'Oh, that.' She smiled and took his hand. 'Your Life Shroom activated just as we were escaping the castle. The others told me you actually stopped breathing for a minute and they couldn't revive you, but then there was a weird pinkish light and BAM, you were alive again.' She grinned down at him. 'I don't remember much of it.'

After a second or two, he grinned tentatively back.

'OK, so where are the others now? I see Mario's over there, but...'

'Hmmm...' Toadette paused for thought. 'Well, the last time I saw your cousins – which was last night – they were outside talking to the princess. Captain Toad was there too. I think she's gonna give them a fine reward for their part in saving her. We couldn't have managed it without their help.'

'That's true...' Luigi agreed. 'Wario and Waluigi were great at getting past those traps and fighting Bowser's minions, and none of us would be here if it wasn't for Captain Toad.'

'Even if Waluigi kept nearly killing you.'

'I don't think he did it on purpose.' Luigi's tone was quiet and thoughtful. 'I think he only came with us because he wanted some glory to himself. He's even more overshadowed than I am, huh?' He gave a small, crooked smile. 'Looks like I need to start paying more attention to my cousins now.'

'Mario will too!' said Toadette. 'He spoke to them just before he came up here. He sounded kinda suspicious, but after I told him everything Wario and Waluigi did for us, I think he was really grateful.'

Before the plumber could respond, there was a snort from the chair beside them and Mario began to stir in his sleep. He muttered something about spaghetti, opened one eye, noticed Luigi watching him, and hastily wiped the drool from his mouth and sat up straight.

'Bro!' he cried. Luigi didn't think he'd ever heard his brother's voice so relieved, or so _awake._

'Mario,' he replied.

'You rescued us! Toadette told me everything, about how you teamed up with our cousins and stormed Bowser's Castle. I didn't think you'd be able to do it! I thought you were gonna die, Luigi!'

'Bowser already mentioned that,' interjected Toadette, managing to sound both amused and disapproving.

Mario coughed uncomfortably. 'I know. I should've had more confidence in you, Bro – you really proved yourself as a hero out there! You did things even I couldn't have done, like getting Waluigi to help, and...' He realised he was rambling and cut himself off, scratching his head underneath his hat.

Luigi watched him for a split second, then burst out laughing.

'It's OK, Bro,' he said between chuckles. 'We know how grateful you are, you don't need to thank us.'

Mario looked relieved. 'Still, you did great out there,' he said. Toadette hopped off her chair and he reached over to put a hand on Luigi's shoulder. 'Seriously, I'm proud of you. And... I should thank the others too, I guess.'

'Hmm... don't bother thanking Waluigi. He didn't help us all that much,' Luigi advised, still grinning.

* * *

><p>Wario could hardly believe his good fortune. Five hundred gold coins! A new car! Lots and lots of treasure! Princess Peach had, in her gratitude, offered him three rewards and that was what he'd chosen. It was nothing much compared to the vast hoards of shiny things that he already owned, but he loved it nevertheless. And it was certainly a suitable reward for a proven hero!<p>

Waluigi had been offered money and gifts too, but had turned them all down. Then, after his brother left the area, he'd turned to the princess and told her what he wanted as a reward.

The very next morning, while Luigi was still unconscious and recovering in Toad Town Hospital, the newspapers were already passing around word of the Four Heroes who'd saved Peach and Mario – and there was a whole paragraph devoted to Waluigi and the great deeds he'd done to help them.

So, for a few days at least, Evil Brother Number #2 got the fame and attention he'd always longed for.

Toadette, on the other hand, had refused all of Peach's offers, saying she'd only done what she did to help her friends and didn't deserve to be rewarded for that. Captain Toad, however, hadn't been able to resist the lure of treasure when it was practically waved under his nose, and flew home happy that night with three glittering new jewels.

So everyone had gotten what they wanted in the end. But the adventure brought something else besides glory and rewards. Afterwards, while Luigi was still struggling with the new attention he got from being a hero, it could be seen that the Four Heroes – and Mario – were often together again, playing sports or just sitting around and eating.

Wario was a great deal more pleasant to be around nowadays, and even Waluigi seemed to have lessened his hostility towards his rival. It could hardly be called friendship, but it wasn't hatred, either.

The newfound happiness between the family might not last forever, but for now, there was peace.

Peace, and one more famous hero in the kingdom.

* * *

><p>AN: So, _A Rescue Gone Awry _is officially complete. This is my most successful fanfic so far, I think... on my other account I had two which I never finished, but I've had very few problems with this story.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed this fanfic, I greatly appreciate it. Special thanks to 'Guest' for reviewing almost every chapter, and 'Thegeniusyoshi' for giving me the idea to put Captain Toad in here.

I will definitely be writing more Mario stories, but I don't have any good ideas yet. Still, you can probably expect to see me publish something new quite soon.

Thanks for reading!


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